>> glor: tonight, a top taliban commander is reportedly killed by an airstrike in pakistan. will did help american troops fighting insurgents in afghanistan? i'm jeff glor. also tonight, the new normal. the great recession changing the rules for workers. more part-time jobs, less money, and less benefits. the heist of the century. 20 years later, the search heat up for more than half a billion dollars worth of stolen art. >> the paintings are out there somewhere. they're in someone's possession, and we need to get them back. >> glor: and perhaps our national pastime's most talked about prospect ever. will stephen strasburg be the perfect pitcher? captioning sponsored by cbs this is the "cbs evening news"

with jeff glor. >> glor: and good evening. the battle against the taliban and al qaeda may have gotten a big boost if today's reports from pakistan are true. the government there says an airstrike in a northwest tribal region appears to have struck the latest in a series of major blows against the taliban's top leadership. richard roth has more. >> reporter: claiming fresh gains in its campaign along the border with afghanistan, pakistan today said it may have killed another high-level taliban commander. faqir mohammed, a cleric and deputy taliban chief, was in the target zone when pakistani gunships attacked yesterday. a government official says it would take a miracle to survive that. with some documented success, such as the capture in february with u.s. help of afghan taliban commander begun baradar, and with reported achievements, such as the still-unconfirmed killing

last january of pakistan's taliban chief abdulmutallab, it appears pakistan's war on terrorists is stepping up, one reason may be money. >> pakistan's goal is to get money from the united states, perhaps give up certain taliban who they can't really control themselves, but more than anything else, to keep the money coming from the u.s. >> reporter: the deadly toll of suicide bombings rattling pakistan security may stiffen its resolve, but so does $1.5 billion of u.s. aid, delivered with political pressure to rout taliban and al qaeda fighters who saw the refuge along the afghan border. this week, pakistan said its operation there is making progress, but showing off one village just recaptured withabbed blankets in a tunnel and enough weapons to build a display, a general admit many of the insurgents got away, perhaps as many as half of them. >> that is just an estimate. nobody can give you a factual figure of how many people are running up and down.

>> reporter: pakistan announced the area's now cleared of militants for the second time this year. richard roth, cbs news, london. >> glor: here at home tonight, we have more on the changing american workforce. february, unemployment stayed steadate 9.7% according to friday's jobs report while so-called underemployment loomed nearly twice as large at 16.8%. and the prospect of nothing but part-time work is facing the young and not so young alike. here's jim axelrod. >> the s.a.t. is may 1. >> reporter: evan mulvihill graduated from cornell last year with an english-chemistry double major and can't find full-time work. >> the feeling that i get from almost everybody who has graduated if my class is that there are no jobs out there. >> reporter: so heitutors, works at a clothing store and has a paid internship at a magazine. how many jobs do you have right now? >> i would say three or four, sometimes five. >> reporter: minal bopial is

10 years further down the career path and freelansing. >> the goal is not to be idol. i'd rather be freelansing than on unemployment. >> reporter: they are the faces of the new normal in the american workplace. a third of american workers now freelance, 40 million people. >> the issue is what will a big company look like? >> reporter: sara horowitz runs the freelancers union in new york which provides access to health, life, and disability insurance. they have 133,000 member today, up 50,000 since the start of the recession, and expected to double over the next two years. >> still will be full-time employees. that's not going away, but what will be different is the way people will be coming in, doing a specific task, and leaving. >> reporter: even full-time jobs with benefits aren't what they used to be. projections for raises in the united states this year are below 3%, barely exceeding

inflation, and the lowest in 20 years. >> we are headed for a lower-wage economy. we've had the best benefits, health care, retirement that anybody in the globe had access to. but we're no longer in that bubble, in that special position we were 20 years ago. >> reporter: which leaves evan mulvihill so busy, he's barely got enough time to exercise. he's still optimistic. >> i have 40 years of my life to work. what's one or two years where i'm not making the salary i want to make or i'm not having health insurance that i want? i think-- i think i can get by for now. >> reporter: the troubling thought for evan and his generation is if this way of doing business becomes the rule for the long run. jim axelrod, cbs news, new york. >> glor: job security is also an issue for many longtime veterans of capitol hill. big names on both sides of the aisle appear to be vulnerable in

midterm elections. that includes even former presidential candidate john mccain. nancy cordes has that story. >> reporter: america's newest senator, scott brown, loves to talk about his daughter's prowess on the basketball court, but this weekend, he skipped her game and flew cross-country to catch one with senator john mccain and to return a favor. >> when i was considering running and down 30 points, the only person that actually met me was senator mccain. >> i'm proud to endorse scott brown for the senate. >> reporter: mccain's early support helped brown defeat a better-known, better-funded democrat in liberal-leaning massachusetts. now, mccain is enlisting the g.o.p.'s newest superstar to help him with his own election. a senate primary challenge from the right. >> everything that the mccain people did to try to intimidate me not to run has just moved me in the other direction. >> makes you want to do it. >> reporter: j.d. hayworth,

conservative radio host and former u.s. representative, is hoping to corral the tea party crowd and upend the more moderate mccain. hayworth's challenge has forced mccain to tack to the right recently. >> we don't want terrorists read their miranda rights. >> reporter: and to dust off his outsider credentials with visits from tea party idols like sarah palin, and scott brown. >> ladies and gentlemen, one of the great political heroes in american political history. >> reporter: with polls showing anti-washington anger at an all-time high, mccain is one of many incumbents facing tough elections. senate majority leader harry reid, arkansas senator blanche lincoln, and pennsylvania's arlen specter are all enduring bruising campaign battles. >> you've got long-term senators who have locked down election after election and won by 10, 20 points every time who are scared out of their minds. >> reporter: it's unfamiliar territory for mccain, who easily won reelection back in

2004 with 76% of the vote. the arizona tea party says it's not endorsing either mccain or hayworth because, from its perspective, both candidates' records leave a lot to be desired. jeff. >> reporter: all right, nancy cordes on capitol hill tonight, thank you. on the eve of iraq's second nationwide elections, a car bomb killed at least three pilgrims and wounded more than 30 near a shiite shrine. violence has dropped dramatically since the first election in iraq, and the type of candidate running for office has changed 22 as we hear from elizabeth palmer in baghdad. >> reporter: this is ishtar, iraq's answer to a girl band playing traditional music at a baghdad women's day lunch. the guests-- housewives, students, and professionals, include an architect and member of parliment running for reelection tomorrow. she's one of 2,000 female

candidates who hit the campaign trail for this election, an unprecedented showing in this male-dominated society. >> political parties have been forced to take women's issues seriously for the first time ever. >> reporter: iraq's constitution was drafted in 2005 with lots of american help, and it stipulates that 25% of the seats in iraq's parliament must go to women. now, that's a higher proportion of women than sit in even the american house or the senate. but like all quotas, this one had its downside. some of the women in the last iraqi parliament were chose tone run simply to fill out party allocations, not because they were competent. this time, though, the quality of the candidates has improved hugely. they come from across iraq's social spectrum, and most share a commitment to the women who remain among the poorest members oof this society. dr. fawz al nuaimy is a political activist. >> we need to raise the standard of living of people who are really in need, in bad need of,

medical care. then you come to education. >> reporter: education and a decent job remain just a treme dream for so many iraqi women who are bringing up their families alone, having lost their husbands to three decades of violence and war. now, though, a fragile peace does seem to have taken hold and life holds promise again for some. a decisive win in tomorrow's election for strong women candidates could bring that promise home to millions more. elizabeth palmer, cbs news, baghdad. >> glor: still ahead on tonight's cbs evening news, 20 years later, the hunt goes on for hundreds of millions of dollars' worth of stolen art.

>> glor: it is the greatest

art heist mystery of all time. 20 years ago this month, a pair of thieves pill forked works from the isabella stewart gardner museum in boston, a take said to be worth $580 million. that is tonight's "weekend journal," returning to the scene of a crime that is still unsolved, and 20 years later, perhaps generating more interest than ever. when the extent rick isabella stewart gardner died in 1924, on her orders, her stunning four-story boston home became a museum. the paintings inside were to remain just as she hung them. until march 18, 1990. >> there are some significant paintings misses. >> glor: at 1:24 in the morning, thieves dressed as cops convinced two security guards to buzz them in before tying them up. they then roamed the galleries for an infamous 81 minutes. they took 13 pieces, including rembrandt's "storm on the sea of galilee," which the gardner estimates is worth $200 million.

they cut this out. >> yes, this is one of the two that were cut out. >> reporter: anthony amore was named the museum's head of security in 2005. >> when you look over your shoulder and see that empty rembrandt, you think some day it will be there? >> i know it will. i'm absolutely confident that it will be there again. >> glor: even more valuable is a missing verme, "the concert," estimate: $250 million. they took an etching by rembrandt, four drawings by degas, a painting by manet, a bronze finial atop a napoleonic flag and a chinese bronze beaker. >> if the leads dried up and i had nothing on my desk to follow, that would worry me. >> reporter: geoff kelly has been the lead f.b.i. agent on the case for eight years. >> i've traveled around the world pursuing leads. >> glor: from europe to japan, and across this country, like when a nevada woman wrote a letter saying she saw that verme for sale. >> we had agents from our reno

office waiting there at the front door when the antiques mall opened a few hours later and seized the painting. >painting. >> glor: but it was a copy. so, perhaps, was the purported rembrandt tipsters showed "boston herald" reporter at a new england warehouse 13 years ago. >> it was, if not the real thing, a high-quality replica. >> glor: over the years, speculation over who done it has focused on high-profile art thieves and organized crime figures. but by those most in the know, just simple local crooks. >> i think the biggest mistake and assumption is that this was commissioned by some, you know, dark overlord who is now enjoying seeing the art, and, you know, in his cozy little den and, you know, nobody else knows he has it. i think that's a myth. >> glor: which means these missing works could be sitting in someone's attic, still

waiting to reoccupy those empty frames. >> it's a placeholder. it's not a symbol of mourning. i see it as a symbol of hope. >> glor: the f.b.i. is currently retesting old evidence for new d.n.a. information, while also offering immunity from prosecution for anyone who can produce these lost masterpieces. masterpieces. somebody walks up to your front door tomorrow, drops off the paintsings, you say, "thank you, good-bye, have a nice day." >> i would probably count them first, check the condition, and then say, "thank you. have a nice day," and then call my friends at the f.b.i. and let them know. >> glor: the gardner, for its part, is offering a reward of $5 million, which remains unclaimed. just ahead on tonight's cbs evening news, big-league baseball's $15 million rookie.

>> jeff: he is the hottest baseball phenom in years, perhaps ever. and if you've never heard of him, stephen strasburg prefers it that way. kelly cobiella has more tonight from i haveera, florida. >> reporter: you don't have to know much about baseball to know that anyone who can throw the ball 103 miles an hour and on target is something special. and stephen strasburg can do both. >> i'm just another guy trying to, you know, earn a spot

somewhere in the big leagues some day. >> reporter: despite that modesty, he's not just another guy. he's this year's top draft choice with the washington nationals, earning the largest contract ever for a rookie, $15 million. and some are calling him the best pitching prospect ever. >> he's got a fastball that's 100. he's got a curveball that looks like it hit a bird. he has a checkup that looks like a split. >> reporter: as a kid, strassburg played t-ball and baseball through high school but he wasn't a child prodigy. he didn't attract scouts until his sophomore year at san diego state where he had 21 wins and just four losses with an amazing 328 strikeouts. >> three years ago, nobody-- nobody knew who i was. nobody decided to draft me. and, you know, it just goes to show what hard work can do. >> reporter: but strassburg hates all the hype. hates being compared to baseball greats like dwight gooden and nolan ryan... as he's quick to

point out, he hasn't yet thrown a big-league pitch. >> honestly, i think it's all pretty funny, you know, because there's no way you can determi determine, you know, how a person's career, you know, is going to turn out. >> reporter: a lot of baseball phenoms have flamed out, getting injured or never living up to their potential. but the nationals are hopeful that their guy warrants all the hype. the nationals were the worst team in baseball last year, losing 103 times. for fans the name strassburg means one thing ... hope. we're really excited about having him and can't wait to see him make his debut. >> reporter: the team will likely start strassburg in the minors to get him used to the grueling schedule of pitching every fifth game. but everyone expects sooner rather than later he'll be in the big leagues. what do you think it will be like, standing out there on the mound? >> yeah, you know, it will be awesome. >> reporter: the fans think so, too. they can't wait. kelly cobiella, cbs news, viera,

florida. >> glor: still ahead on tonight's cbs evening news, the intense, sometimes illegal campaign for oscar votes.

>> glor: this weekend, hollywood's biggest night gets even bigger. at the academy awards, the doubling of best picture nominees from five to 10 set off

a frenzy of campaigning, not all of it friendly. bill whitaker has more. >> reporter: while hollywood prepares for its big night in the spotlight, the real contest for the oscars has been going on for weeks. >> the 10 films selected as best picture nominees for 2009 are... >> reporter: that's just the beginning of a race to influence the fight for oscar gold is done with everything from ads in trade papers to throwing parti parties, appearing on magazine covers, and on late night talk shows. >> why don't they just make a separate category for meryl streep? >> reporter: tim gray covers the oscars for hollywood's oldest trade paper "variety." >> there's been mudd slinging for years going on. and what always happens is everybody is always very polite at the beginning, and when the final ballots go in the mail and the voters have them in hand, the knives come out. >> reporter: "the hurt

locker," already in a tight race for best picture with the blockbuster "avatar," came under fire itself this week. producer nicholas cartier was caught sending an e-mail to colleagues asking for their vote. "if you tell your friends who to vote for the oscar, we will win and not a $500 million film," it said. that remark about "avatar" violated rules banning criticism of your opponent. cartiered inly apologized but was punished. >> they took away his tickets, and of course, in so doing, he's not going to be able to-- should the film win, to go up on stage to accept his oscar. >> reporter: the trouble for "the hurt locker" didn't stop there. war veterans questioned the authenticity of the film and one iraqi war veteran is suing saying the movie is based on his life. and at the end of the day, the backbiting and lavish parties may not make much difference. >> i don't think people vote for

something because they like the party. compared to the viciousness that goes on in political campaigns, this is small potatoes. >> reporter: but the box office bounce for some movies after winning the academy award is no small potatoes. when "slumdog millionaire" one last year for best picture, ticket sales more than tripled from 45 million to 142 million dollars. bill whitaker, cbs news, hollywood. >> glor: that was the cbs evening news tonight. later on cbs, "48 hours mystery." russ mitchell will be here tomorrow night. i'm jeff glor, cbs news in new york. good night. captioning sponsored by cbs captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org

it's definitely expensive having a growing family and it's something that you think about. we try to be conscious of that and plan out our meals so that we can feed everyone on a budget. at giant, we know saving money is important. every time you shop with your card, you can enjoy thousands of real deal savings and weekly specials, like porterhouse steak, $4.99 a pound, and strawberries, 1-pound container, 2 for $4. this week only. it makes me feel good because we're saving money, and that works for me.